Good Chemistry: Mccloud, Confidence

Sports ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

November 14, 1989|By Jeff Babineau of The Sentinel Staff

The Groveland High School Greenback Gators were loaded with potential at the beginning of the football season, but there was something amiss with the team's chemistry, according to Coach Gene Foster. He should know - he draws a paycheck both as a football coach and science teacher at the school.

The team's biggest missing ingredient was confidence, but there were other ingredients missing as well. One of them was halfback/defensive end Andre Davis, and another was halfback Jerome McCloud, who both were working hard to regain their eligibility when the season started.

Foster is happy to report that all three are back in Groveland's arsenal, and it has shown in the past few weeks. The players' confidence has grown as the Greenback Gators' season has unfolded. Once 0-2, Groveland now is 6-3 after winning six of seven games.

Davis has made an impact on both sides of the football since returning a few weeks ago. And McCloud, who is The Lake Sentinel's Athlete of the Week, emerged by putting on an offensive showcase in a 33-18 victory over Taylor on Friday.

Taylor probably would like to have a chance to rethink the game plan it brought to Groveland's Frank B. Farr Field last week. The defense was clearly geared to stop fullback Fred Allen, who is nearing the 1,000-yard mark in rushing, and that strategy provided an opportunity for the home club to dazzle Taylor with some of its other weapons - the main one being McCloud.

McCloud rushed for 151 yards on 11 carries, and broke free on touchdown runs of 38, 40 and 25 yards as Groveland never let Taylor into the game. McCloud's first two scoring runs helped construct a commanding halftime lead, 21-0, and his third touchdown left Groveland on top, 27-6, in the third quarter.

''I really don't think I deserve this publicity,'' said McCloud, minutes after Groveland wrapped up practice late Monday afternoon. ''The line deserves all the credit. Everybody did a great job blocking. Anywhere I ran, something was there for me. And when the holes are there, I have no other choice but to hit them. That's my job.''

Foster has been around as a football coach for more than 30 years and 200 victories, and he knows the value of a balanced offense.

If you have one outstanding back, and he gets stopped one night, your team is out of business. So when the linebackers from Taylor came charging toward the line to meet up with Allen, Foster gave them Allen - but the football didn't go with him. The ball usually ended up in the hands of a back headed in another direction - somebody such as McCloud.

On McCloud's final touchdown, Groveland faced a fourth-and-1 situation, and everybody on defense awaited Allen crashing the middle.

Instead, Groveland quarterback Ben Stafford handed McCloud the ball on a misdirection play. Not only did McCloud run 25 yards untouched, but Foster said videotape of the game shows only two Taylor players who even realized McCloud had the football.

''He's a real chunk, a tough runner,'' said Foster of McCloud, who is 5 feet 7, 165 pounds. ''He and Andre are big, big veterans who we were really counting on this season.''

Who knows, says Foster, had he had those two players, and had the ones in uniform displayed a high level of confidence from the beginning, the Greenback Gators might be 9-0, not 6-3. McCloud agrees.

''I'm not saying that I'm a hero or anything, or even that I would have been starting, but I think this team needed me,'' he said. ''I think we could have been undefeated. I felt as if I had let my teammates down, and it makes me want to do more now that I'm playing again.''

Other nominees: Clermont's Devon Cole caught the football only two times Friday, but both receptions were keys to the game: His 19-yard touchdown reception was the game's lone score, and he intercepted a pass in the final minutes to preserve the Highlanders' 6-3 victory.